Ecce Penna
by justanoutlaw
Summary: King Robin's curse gave him an unexpected family, but it also lead to a second one that removed his child from him. He's miserable...until a beautiful bandit comes his way.


Evil isn't born, it's made. Of course, Robin wouldn't know that mantra for quite some time. He had spent most of his life trying to fight the evil, not that anyone made it easy. His father, Richard, was a former miller, who had managed to marry the youngest of seven princesses, Kate. She was a kind, if timid woman, while Richard had done everything he could to escape his life of poverty and he never let anyone forget it, including his son. He spent most of his time perfecting his magic and using it to keep a tight leash on Robin himself. Despite that, Robin found his escape at a young age, riding. He perfected it over the years and eventually, about a year before his 18th birthday, his parents hired a beautiful young stable hand by the name of Marian.

It didn't take long for the two to fall in love. Robin told his parents he needed more lessons and would spend most of his free time with her, going on rides and having picnics. They kissed in the grass and made love for the first time in Marian's tiny cottage on the property. No one was the wiser to their relationship, at least that was what he thought.

One day, he was out on a ride with Marian, when he heard the screams of a child. When he turned, he found a young boy being dragged by his horse. Had it kept going, he probably would've died. Robin leaped into action, saving him and bringing him on his own horse.

The 10-year-old introduced himself as David, and Robin recognized him as the prince of the kingdom. David swore he'd never ride again, but Robin convinced him to get back up on the horse and to keep trying. Heaven knew he had spent a time or two nearly trampled by his own.

He didn't think much of the young prince over the next couple of weeks. He had plans to propose to Marian, so they could escape his awful home after his 18th birthday. They could start over somewhere new. He wouldn't have half the luxuries he had grown up with, but Robin didn't care. He didn't need anything, so long as he had Marian by his side. Marian didn't care about him becoming a prince or the fact that he had no interest in magic. All she wanted was him and he could offer her the same in return.

The illusion came shattering down when Richard brought Queen Ruth, David's mother, to the castle. She told the story of how her husband had been killed years earlier and that her son needed a father. Since Robin saved David's life, she felt he was the perfect candidate. Before Robin could even rebut, Richard had spoke for him.

"Robin would love to become your new husband, your majesty."

Just like that, his fate had been decided for him. He would be the husband to the Queen, the new father to David. How could that even be, when he was only 7 years older than him? Why would the middle age Ruth want anything to do with him to begin with? None of it made any sense, but no one seemed to care about how he felt. Yet, he knew he couldn't mention Marian's name. Not without putting her at risk.

Robin knew that he and Marian could no longer wait. He ran to the stables that night, a ring he had fashioned himself in his clutches.

"We need to do it tomorrow, at sunset," Robin explained. "My father and Queen Ruth are planning for the wedding to take place on my birthday."

Marian stared into his eyes, biting her lip. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"All I want is you," he whispered, sliding the ring onto her finger.

A smile fell across Marian's lips and she pulled him into her arms, kissing him gently. He deepened it as well, until he heard a gasp. When they pulled apart, they found David standing there, his eyes as wide as saucers. He took off into the night and Robin went after him, making sure the young prince didn't get hurt.

"David, please!"

"You're supposed to marry my mother!" David cried out, tears forming in his deep blue eyes. "We're supposed to be a family!"

"I don't love her," Robin explained, kneeling down to his height. "I love Marian. She's…she's the one I wish to spend the rest of my life with."

"But…why? Why can't you love my father?"

Robin couldn't help but smile at his naivety. He put his hand over David's. "Love doesn't work the way you think. Love…true love…is magic, the most powerful magic of all. And once you find it, it cannot be replaced. It creates happiness."

David was quiet for a moment, sinking in his words. "Then I'll tell my mother, surely she'd be okay with it."

Robin sighed, running his fingers through his hair. David was so young; he had no clue how kingdom politics worked. There was no way Ruth would just let him go, and even if she did, Richard wouldn't either.

"David, you can't do that. Your mother, I am sure she is a kind and fair woman, but that's not how this works. I am the son of a princess, I'm expected to marry a Queen, not a stable girl. The only way we can be together, is to run away. You mustn't tell anyone. Not your mother, not my parents, no one."

David looked so unsure and, in a way, it made Robin relieved. Clearly the Queen had never hurt him the way that Richard had Robin.

"Please, David," Robin pleaded. "Someday, when you're older, you'll understand why. But for now, it has to be kept a secret."

Slowly, David nodded. "I promise."

The smile returned to Robin's face. "Thank you."

Robin walked David back to the guest chambers where he and his mother were sleeping until the wedding, tucking him into bed, before meeting back up with Marian to discuss the plans for tomorrow. He'd sneak out once everyone had gone to sleep and they'd head off to a kingdom far enough away that they could never be found.

What Robin didn't know, was that Richard had been watching everything. He knew about Marian and Robin's romance long before David had even arrived. And he knew just the buttons to press when he spoke to David the next afternoon. Robin wouldn't quite realize until he was older, just how much Richard had manipulated and scarred this poor child. He'd be blinded by his own hate and revenge to realize, that David was a victim of Richard's game too.

With naivety of his own, Robin headed back to the stables the following night, sweeping Marian into his arms for a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, the cool silver of her engagement band pressing against his skin as she did. He set her down and took both of her hands into his own.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked.

Marian nodded. "Let's get out of here."

Keeping their hands intertwined, they headed for the double stable doors, only to have them pushed open by force. Richard stood there, out of the sleep clothes Robin had seen him in when he had assured he wasn't going to be able to follow. Robin took a step in front of his fiancé, his heart thumping steadily in his chest.

"Father," Robin whispered. "How…"

"You really thought you could keep this a secret from me?" He took a step forward, pushing Robin to the side so he could take in Marian. He grasped her chin beneath his fingers, shaking his head. "It's such a shame, you're far too pretty."

"Just let your son be happy," Marian insisted, struggling against his grip. "He doesn't want to marry the Queen!"

"Unfortunately, that's not up to him."

Richard's hand plunged into Marian's chest and when it was removed, he had her beating heart inside of it. Robin went to jump forward to stop him, but he was too late. Richard closed his hand into a fist, the heart crumbling like dust onto the ground like ash. Marian collapsed alongside of it, her beautiful brown eyes closing as she did. Robin could feel himself scream, but his ears didn't register it. He dropped to the ground, gathering his beautiful fiancé into his arms, trying to think of a way to save her. True love's kiss, that had to do it. He leaned down, gently kissing her, but nothing happened. The tears fell down his cheeks as he cradled her dead body closer to him, a sob escaping his lips.

"Marian," he whispered. "Come back to me."

He could practically feel his father's smirk behind him, so he dared to look up and see it.

"Why would you do this?!" Robin demanded.

Richard knelt down, taking a firm grip on his son's shoulder, one that would surely leave a bruise. "Because my boy, this is my happy ending."

Robin felt soulless as he stood in the room getting it for his suit. He hadn't cried since that night, there was no point in it. Marian was gone and he was trapped, destined to marry the Queen. His thoughts on it didn't seem to matter to anyone, not even his mother could save him from this. All she told him was to look forward to a new life with the Queen, a chance at a fresh start away from his father. As if marrying a Queen meant Richard would back off any.

As the tailor left to go get more pins, David entered the room. Robin turned around and saw the smile on his face, he almost looked in awe.

"You're going to have the perfect wedding," he said.

"I suppose so," Robin mumbled in response, taking a step down.

"I saw Marian's dress. She's going to look so pretty."

Robin tilted his head. "This wedding isn't for me and Marian."

"It's not?" David's eyebrows furrowed together. "But your father said so long as I told him the truth, he'd help you."

Robin felt a ball of rage begin to fizzle in his stomach. He had thought that Richard finding out about them was up to coincidence. It wasn't that surprising that he would know, Robin hadn't been able to hide anything from him growing up. Why would Marian be any different?

Except there stood David, that stupid, naïve look on his face. Robin wanted nothing more than to smack it off in that moment.

"You told my father?"

David slowly nodded. "He said he would help you, that he was scared of losing you. I know what it's like not have a father, mine died. I just wanted to help you!"

Help him? David thought he was helping him? In that moment, Robin envisioned wrapping his hands around the young boy's neck and squeezing until all the air left him. There were rumors that he had been born with weak lungs to begin with, it wouldn't be that hard a…

Who the hell was he thinking like? That's what his father would do. And Robin was not his father.

Instead, he took another step forward, forcing a smile on his lips. "Marian ran away," Robin lied. "She didn't love me." Those words burned his lips, they felt so wrong to say out loud.

"But I thought you said…"

"I was wrong," Robin interrupted. "But none of that matters anymore." He knelt down to David's height. "All that does, is that we're going to be a family now."

David's eyes lit up with excitement and Robin had to hide his balling fist. "You're going to be my father?"

"I can be anything you want me to be," Robin said, before pulling him into a hug.

The prince would live, for now. But one day…Robin would make sure he paid.

Robin's wedding day went about as painfully as he imagined. He found it unbelievable how easy it was for him to lie through his vows, but he had a feeling that Ruth was doing the same with her own. That night, he found himself consummating the marriage, no matter how much he begged Ruth to just let it be. Nothing seemed to matter to her, not his cries or his pushing her away. He walked away from the experience, feeling even more numb.

Rumpelstiltskin came into his life and offered him a way to get everything he wanted…except Marian back. One couldn't raise the dead, but they could get revenge. With a magic mirror, he was able to banish his father to another realm. He was beginning to take lessons in secret with the imp, finding ways to exact his revenge on David.

He thought it would help his heart, but over the next few years, between his nights with the Queen, having to pretend that Marian had ran off and being forced to become a father to a boy that was only 7 years younger than him, it took a toll. No amount of magic would help there, nor would revenge. He stood on a balcony one night, debating what it was all worth. Killing David wouldn't bring Marian back.

Taking himself out of the equation, however, might bring him to wherever the hell Marian was.

Before he could even process his decision, there was a gust of wind that caused him tumbling overboard. He was careening towards the ground, when suddenly something stopped him and he saw a green glow surrounding him. Looking up, he found a green fairy in front of him, a smile spread across her face.

"Hey there. I'm Tinkerbell."

"Robin…what the hell are you doing?"

"That's a funny way of talking to someone that helped save your life."

Robin was about to argue, when Tinkerbell brought them both to the ground. She transformed from a fairy to human size, though she was still far shorter than him.

"What are you doing here?" He repeated.

"I'm here to give you your happy ending."

Robin rolled his eyes. "My happy ending is Prince David's head on a stake."

"No, it's not. And deep down, you know it too. I can lead you to someone, someone who will help you move on from Marian."

"How do you…"

"I'm a fairy. Do you trust me?"

"I just met you."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Look, there is nothing that will help me move on from Marian."

"Your soulmate might."

Robin tilted his head. Marian had been his soulmate; she was the only person he had ever felt connected to in some form. There was no one else out there for him.

"Marian…"

"You loved Marian and that won't change. But everyone has a soulmate, someone they're destined to be with. I can help you find her. Meet me back down here tomorrow, I need to get time to get the pixie dust."

"I don't…"

"You can find a way to be happy, that doesn't include murdering a teenage boy."

Robin wasn't sure if he really believed it, but he agreed to meet Tinkerbell the next evening. He was brought through the air via pixie dust, feeling both scared and exhilarated. When they finally landed, they were at a tavern near the edge of the kingdom. Tinkerbell lead him to the door, peering inside.

"There she is," Tink said. "The one glowing in green, the woman with the feather tattoo."

Robin looked through the window and saw the glowing pixie dust. It surrounded a woman who's face he couldn't see, she had long dark hair and was wearing obvious peasant clothes. Her arm was raised as she lead the others in some sort of cheer, a clear feather tattooed to her right forearm.

"Go in, talk to her," Tinkerbell encouraged. "You deserve your happy ending."

With that, she was gone, leaving Robin lingering by the window. He thought of what was on the other side of the door. A fresh start, a new person that could love him, one he could share his own heart with.

And then his mind flashed to Marian. Richard was far gone, but it didn't mean that things would work out. Nothing about Robin's life ever worked out the way it was supposed to and he wasn't about to let this person become his next victim.

Robin ran away from the tavern that night, the thought of the woman with the feather tattoo never leaving his mind.

The next dozen years went by in a blur. He nearly escaped the castle once more with the help of the genie, but when Ruth found out, she was going to lock him away. Robin used the help of the beautiful genie to kill her, making everyone think it was of a heart attack. The darkness in his heart grew and he sent a huntswoman by the name of Red to take David's heart. It would've worked too, had Red not grown soft and let David go. The prince turned into a bandit, on the run from Robin's wrath. Over time, he'd fall in love with a shepherdess turned princess, sent in place of her twin sister that she had been separated from at birth. The two shared something Robin hadn't expected…true love.

Rumpelstiltskin convinced him to use it against the two. He put David in a sleeping curse in exchange for Snow White's life. Snow woke her true love and together, they took down Snow's adoptive father, George, and managed to defeat Robin as well. If only David had the guts to actually kill Robin, he set him free with a protection spell so he could never hurt anyone else.

Once again, with the Dark One's help, he was able to build a powerful curse. It'd separate David from his new wife and the child they were expecting. Even when David and Snow locked Rumpelstiltskin up for trying to take Cinderella's baby, he was still able to assist him.

The final ingredient was the thing that Robin loved the most. At first he thought that was a dead end, Marian was dead. That was until Rumpelstiltskin reminded him of one person, the one that had stuck by his side through everything…his mother. Robin slept on it, but eventually, the darkness overpowered the love. Kate didn't even fight him on it, she gave her heart so her son could find his "happiness". She had never been able to fight Richard so he could have it originally.

Robin stormed the castle as the curse slowly took over the Enchanted Forest, taking out every knight that came in his path. When he made it to the nursery, he found David clutching Snow's lifeless body in his arms. Snow White's porcelain skin had blood dripping from it and no amount of true love's kiss was bringing her back. Robin was pulled to the night Marian died, thinking of the same. In that moment, he saw the little boy he had saved. So scared, so unsure of what to do.

He knew if he thought of it too long, he'd start to feel sorry for the boy that was supposed to be his step-son. Instead, he turned to his knights. "Where is the baby?"

"We checked the wardrobe, but she's gone."

A smile spread across David's face, in spite of his tears. "That means you lost. She got away, she's going to find us."

Robin's nostrils flared. No, there was no way that David would ever win. "No, your daughter is gone. And in a few moments, you'll have forgotten all about her."

The windows shattered, purple clouds enveloping the room. Robin let out a deep laugh.

"Where are we going?" David asked, holding Snow's lifeless body closer to him.

"Some place horrible."

18 years. That was the amount of time it took for Robin to get bored. During that time, he reigned as mayor over the town of Storybrooke, watching everyone live miserable lives. David was an elementary school teacher, beloved by the town, but no one really knew them. Snow White was known as Jane Doe, in a coma within the hospital. David had no memory of his life with her, though he visited her every day when he volunteered at the hospital. Robin thought that would make him feel better, to see David suffer, but after a while, he got a numb feeling.

He thought of what he told David that night in the woods. Love was the most powerful magic of all. It could bring light to any dark soul. If he could find someone to love, someone that could love him back…maybe this would become worth it again.

Robin went to Rumpelstiltskin, cursed as Mr. Gold, for help. After a month, he got called back in and was informed of a child that was in need of a home in Boston. Robin drove there, a tiny baby girl being placed in his arms.

"Kate," he whispered, his heart cracking open the minute their eyes locked. This wiggly, squishy baby girl was all his, he would do better, he would be better for her. He would be a better father than Richard ever was.

The first 10 years of Kate's life went well. They spent those years learning together, Robin realizing that this was what had been missing from his life all along. There were days he even forgot about his revenge or to even be happy over David's forlorn face whenever he walked down the sidewalk. No, his focus was on his little girl. She was what mattered, above all else.

Until David accidentally let it slip that Kate was adopted. Suddenly, everything changed. Kate started treating him differently, like he had once treated his father. No amounts of mac and cheese or comic books helped. The little girl wanted nothing to do with him and one day…she vanished.

Robin was panicked as he tore through the town alongside Ruby and a few others. No one had heard from Kate. Any friends she had, she had pushed away after finding out the truth about being adopted. No one had heard more than two words from her in days.

And then she was back, but despite his hug, she pushed past him and said that she had "found her real mom". When Robin looked up, he was face to face with a blonde with bright green eyes and a sheepish smile. She said her name was Emma and that Kate had run away to find her, but that she had no plans of staying. Until one thing after another, seemed to make her. Emma told Robin that Kate had been given a storybook and she believed the entire town was cursed fairytale characters.

Robin tore through the book later that night, a sinking realization filling him. Emma wasn't just his daughter's birth mother…but the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. She was the savior, the one caveat of the curse. If she broke it, there was no way that Kate would want to stay with him anymore. Emma was already trying to take her from him.

He got desperate, but eventually, Kate ended up in a sleeping curse. The apple pie had been meant for Emma, but Kate had eaten it to prove a point. The only way to save her life, was to break Robin's curse. True love's kiss between Kate and Emma did exactly that.

It took months for Robin to earn the respect of anyone back. It wasn't until he saved the town to prevent Kate from growing up alone, did he find himself actually getting along with David and Emma. If only that hadn't lead to the Neverland trip, which meant that Robin had to break Pan's curse…by giving up the thing he loved the most.

"I'm sorry," Robin whispered to Kate, as she stood by Emma's bug, ready to start their new lives. It'd be one where she had no memory of her adoptive father or anything that had happened in the past year. "But I'm a villain, and villains don't get happy endings."

"You're not a villain," Kate said, softly. "You're my dad."

Robin felt a lump grow in his throat, pulling Kate in his arms. He could've held on forever, but he had to save the town. David's hand fell into his own as they watched their daughters drive over the town line, tears spilling down their faces.

He wasn't sure how David and Snow could be so optimistic. They wanted to take back their old castle, to run the kingdom together. It wasn't until he heard Snow crying herself to sleep and David comforting her that he realized that they had lost their daughter once before. This was a second nature that shouldn't occur, but did anyway, to them.

This was the first time Robin was losing his daughter for good. There was no way he'd ever see her again and without her, he wasn't sure how he was meant to go on. David tried to tell him to do it for Kate, he was only doing it for Emma and the baby that Snow carried, but it was different for him. He had Snow, he had his second child.

Who did Robin have?

As they walked through the forest one day, Robin felt something whirl past his head. He and David's heads snapped up, finding it was a flying monkey. They ducked down, trying to cover themselves as it charged right for them…until it suddenly hit the ground with an arrow through its back.

"Are you two alright?"

Robin looked up, finding a short woman with dark hair pulled back in a frizzy braid and the deepest brown eyes he had ever seen standing before him. In her arms was a bow, a whole sack of arrows on her back.

"You just saved our lives, so I'd say so," David said, allowing the mysterious woman to help him up.

"And you, sir?" She asked, reaching for Robin.

He tried to break his stare, before pulling away. "It's your majesty," he corrected. Robin expected to see fear fill her, but instead she simply rolled her eyes.

"A simple thank you would've sufficed. The name's Regina…Regina Hood, the leader of the Merry Men."

As it turned out, David and Regina had known each other from his own bandit days. Regina offered her assistance to them, leading them to where she set up camp. It was there, two young boys ran towards her. She grinned and lifted them into her arms, ruffling their dark brown hair.

"These are my sons," she explained. "Roland and Henry."

As Snow's bump grew, it was harder for Robin to be around her and David. He found himself going back to his old chambers, thinking of the two little boys that constantly chased after them. They were so young, and sweet. But they reminded him of his own child, the child that didn't even remember he existed.

He couldn't go on like this, not anymore. Writing a note to Snow and David, he locked himself within his chambers and prepared the sleeping curse. What he wasn't expecting, was for the door to be opened.

"I locked it for a reason, David," he called out.

"Not David." Robin didn't have to turn to know it was Regina. "I saw the note before they did. I knew I had to stop you."

Robin did his best to hold back an eyeroll. "You know nothing of my pain. You have your sons. I have nothing."

"You have people that care about you."

"I have no desire to be awake. And now, the only person who can is my daughter."

"Is this really what she would want for you? To spend the rest of your life miserable?"

Robin spun on his seat. "What would you know about my daughter?!"

If Regina was scared of him, she didn't show it. Instead, she took a step forward. "I lost my husband, Daniel. It happened not long after Roland was born, he was killed and it was all my fault. I lived with that guilt for so long and trust me, my boys weren't enough to pull me through it."

For once, she didn't look annoyed with him, he could see the tears in her eyes. That brought a knife to his gut and he didn't quite understand why.

"I nearly did something really stupid, that would've left my children without a mother."

"What stopped you?"

"The thought that they were there, that they needed me. And in time…I got better."

Robin swallowed. "I'm never going to see her again."

"You don't know that." Regina stepped closer to him and held her hand out for the vile. "Your story isn't defined by the one person you love the most. You need to learn to live for you, Robin."

Robin mulled over her words, his grip on the vile slowly slipping. Regina gently took it and poured it out onto the ground. A single tear fell down Robin's face, followed by another. Regina pulled him into her arms and he rest her head on the shoulder, allowing himself to feel the pain for once.

Regina stood by Robin's side over the next few months. When her evil sister appeared, ready to curse the kingdom, she and her men were on their side of the war. Soon, it became clear that the only way to save everyone, was to get back to Storybrooke, to find Emma. She was the savior. She could defeat this Wicked Witch once and for all. It meant Neal going back to find her and Kate, with a memory potion that would hopefully be enough to wake them both. Snow would shatter David's heart so the curse could be enacted, and Robin felt his own breaking at the thought. He had spent so much time wishing that David dead…but now…he couldn't picture life without him.

As Robin got the curse ready, and Snow and David said their goodbyes, Regina snuck into the room, tapping him on the shoulder. He jumped nearly dropping more potion in than needed.

"Shouldn't you be with your boys?"

"Little John's got them. They're going to be okay. I just had to see you."

Robin let out a deep breath. "Thank you for not letting me give up on myself."

"Of course." She took a step forward. "In this new land…we won't remember each other."

"I know," Robin whispered. And he wasn't sure why that made him so upset.

She outstretched her arm to him, causing her tight sleeve to move up a bit. That's when he saw it, the feather tattoo. The very same one that he had seen the night Tinkerbell dragged him to the tavern. His eyes widened, looking from it, to her.

"What is it?" Regina asked.

"How long have you had that?"

Regina looked at the feather tattoo, before back to him. "The feather? Years, before I met Daniel even."

"I…I don't think we have to worry about never knowing each other."

Robin pulled a very confused Regina into his arms.

"No matter what, I'm always going to find you."

A small smile appeared on her face. "You sound crazy right now, you know that right?"

"I'll explain it once we can remember everything," he promised. "Just know…I'm sorry this took me so long."

He leaned and kissed her, holding on tightly to his soulmate for the very first time.


End file.
